


The Return

by RainbowArches



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Ambiguous Character Death, Background Relationships, Cameos, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-18
Updated: 2015-07-18
Packaged: 2018-04-09 23:20:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4368221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainbowArches/pseuds/RainbowArches
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fifteen years after the Monolith swallowed Jemma, it spat her back out again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Return

Skye wasn’t headed anywhere in particular, but she strode to wherever she was going with purpose, revelling in the boss _clack clack_ of her boss heels on the tile floor. It was all she could do on quiet days like this. After eight years of directing SHIELD you’d think she’d enjoy the days where everything went smoothly and nothing much happened. But no, she still felt bored and faintly on edge, and a little useless since being director now meant that there wasn’t much for her to do on quiet days except watch everyone else do their jobs. Though there was the bonus of watching everyone straighten up and put on their studious faces upon her arrival. She let it go to her head and didn’t care one bit.

Lincoln’s training of the fresh batch of inhumans was going well. Skye appreciated the awe in the kids’ faces whenever she turned up.

“Whatever you’ve been telling them about me,” Skye said to Lincoln when she pulled him aside, “Keep it up. I used to look the exact same way whenever May entered the room. Although, when I think of it like that, what have you been telling them? Should I be concerned?”

Lincoln shrugged and grinned. “I just want them to work hard and what better inspiration than you?”

Skye punched his arm teasingly. “Aw, you’re so sweet. Something went wrong, didn’t it?”

“No, nothing went wrong. I just get nervous about the whole idea of an inhuman army, you know?” He folded his arms over his chest like he was cold and looked down at her from under her furrowed brow and long eyelashes. He’d perfected his own puppy dog version of Rogers’ earnestness that was kinda cute and a lot annoying, and Skye wondered not for the first time if introducing him to Rogers had been Fury and Coulson’s idea of a joke. “Are we doing the right thing here? It just rings too familiar with last time…”

“That was a long time ago. And we’re not building an army, we’re building a community. All we’re doing is teaching them how to control their powers and letting them make friends with other people like them. And then if they want to stay here, they can, and if they want to leave then they can leave. And they’ll only hear from us if they need our help or if we need theirs. Or, you know, if they do something stupid and we need to give them time out or something.” She smiled assuring at him and patted his arm, and he relaxed a bit.

She understood his concern; she had her concerns too. Even though she kept telling him that everything with Jiaying ended a long time ago, it felt fresh. She still woke up in a cold sweat sometimes, clawing her mother’s fingers off her face, and then wiping away tears because she couldn’t help but miss her mother. But she knew she wasn’t falling into the same trap Jiaying had, and most days she felt assured about that.

“So do you think we have any potential SHIELD agents in this crowd?” Skye asked, watching the team spar in pairs.

“Good question. They’ve got brains and talent, but not a lot of drive. They’re not motivated.”

“Have you talked to them about their options here?”

“Yeah, and their options elsewhere. It’s not that they’re unhappy or anything, just unenthusiastic.”

“Hm. Well, I was kinda all over the place when I first joined SHIELD. They’re probably still figuring themselves out.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Lincoln sighed, watching his team.

Skye patted his arm again until he looked less discouraged. “If you want us to give them another demonstration, get them excited, let me know,” she said. “I know how much the newbies love that.”

Lincoln chuckled. “Yeah, they love watching their instructor get his ass kicked.”

“I know you love it too.” Skye’s phone buzzed in her pocket. “Duty calls.”

“Hey Fitz,” she said when she was out of the training room. “And Mack, I’m guessing.”

“Yep, still here,” Mack said.

“How’s my baby coming along?”

“We were wondering if you wanted her to be touch or voice activated,” Fitz said. “Or both. Then we can have her go into lockdown if anyone other than you tries to get into her.”

“Uh, yeah. Now that you mention it that sounds like a pretty basic thing for a secret agent car to have.”

“We thought so too. But do you want a password or something? Maybe you have to touch her a certain way to get her started?”

“Don’t talk about my baby like that,” Skye said, scandalized.

“Yeah, Turbo. Getting kinda jealous over here.”

“That’s not- you know what I meant!”

“Anyway, how about it, Tremors?”

“I like it. I guess you’ll need me to come over with some details regarding this if you’re going to actually program her that way.”

“It would help.”

“Okay. I’ll think about it and come over maybe tomorrow or Friday. Stark hasn’t touched her, has he?”

“Stark doesn’t work here anymore.”

“I know that, but does he know that? Coulson doesn’t work here anymore. Doesn’t me he doesn’t show up randomly.”

“Stark doesn’t even know she exists,” Mack assured her.

“Yeah, he’s still in… which country is he in? Anyway, he’s far away, cleaning up one of his messes from his Avengers days.”

“Cool. I’ll talk to you guys soon.”

She hung up and went to the other training area, where Akela was training the human recruits. Skye usually got less of a reaction from these guys, but that was because they had Akela as their instructor so she didn’t take it personally. By the time Skye saw Akela again, she’d more or less forgotten the time she’d attacked her and FitzSimmons, and had been in awe too. Akela had bulked up while she’d been in hiding, and she wasn’t shy about showing off her muscles (though she did it in a way that didn’t look like showing off). She had never not knocked Skye on the mat when they sparred, and it was hypnotizing, watching her go at the punching bag. Everyone’s favorite thing to do was watch her score perfectly in the gun range, despite the eye patch, in a focused, efficient, slightly bored manner. She had a stern face, so most newbies expected her to be mean; she wasn’t. She was brisk, but patient and she made an effort to connect with everyone in small ways.

“Hey,” Akela said when Skye appeared next to her. “What do you think of these two?”

Skye turned her attention to the pair in the boxing ring. “I think they’re trying to impress you.”

“It’s starting to work. Their technique needs work, but I’ve never seen anyone more persistent. They’ve been at it for ages; neither of them has gone down yet.”

Skye pushed her lip out, impressed. “Nice.”

“They’re a bit crap with a gun though.”

“Yeah, I have trouble finding that discouraging, but keep at it if it’s important to you.”

“I will.”

They watched, Akela proudly/critically, Skye wistfully, as the two in the ring tried to take each other down. She missed May sometimes. They still saw each other; they were close friends. But she missed her mentor, having that guiding hand always there. Skye didn’t really need that anymore, but she wished she did. It still scared her, being counted on by everyone, being the final authority, having to know everything. She managed, though. “When you screw up, fix it,” May had said, and Coulson, and Fury. That was all she could do, really.

“I’m thinking about asking Romanov to come in and show them a little something,” Akela said.

“If it’s okay with her it’s okay with me. I can show them something if you want?”

Akela smirked. “What are you going to show them? The bruises on your chin or the bruises on your ass?”

“Ha ha. I can take a punch.”

“You can throw them a little better than you can take them. No, I think Romanov has something to offer that we don’t.”

“Also, you know, look at me guys, I have connections.”

“Yeah.”

“Has Ace been in today?”

“He’s working on the homework assignment you gave him.”

“I’ll go see how he’s doing.”

Ace was in the break room, working his way through a cyber-obstacle course Skye had designed for him.

“How’s it going?” Skye asked, sitting next to him.

“Piece of cake,” he muttered absently, not looking up.

Skye leaned in slightly, right on the edge of hovering, because she knew he’d feel hyper-aware and pressured and she wanted him to learn to work in those conditions. She was pleased to see how much progress he’d made in such a short time. She’d designed this obstacle course to be just beyond his reach of success, to see how long he’d keep up, what tricks he’d use and what questions he’d asked. As it turned out, he surprised her.

“Done,” he said, handing her the laptop with a satisfied smile.

“Wow. Nice going, kid,” she said, looking through his handiwork. “Nice and clean. Guess I have to up my game.”

“Yeah, give me a challenge why don’t you?” Ace picked his coke up from the table and took a sip. “Am I field ready yet?”

“In due time, young apprentice.”

Ace probably was field ready. He could fight, he could shoot, and he could hack, but Skye felt he could reach that little bit farther before she declared him a field agent and sent him out. At least that’s what she told herself was the reason, instead of not wanting to be responsible for Mike losing his son all over again. She knew she couldn’t keep thinking like that. By all accounts Ace was fully qualified for field duty. She couldn’t keep him in training forever, and Mike wouldn’t want her to.

“Wanna come with me to see Marissa tomorrow?” Skye asked, by which she meant “Do you want to come with me to Mack and Fitz’s workshop in case Harley is there?”

Ace shrugged. “Sure.”

“Here,” she said, handing the laptop back. “Try and get through this one. It’s a lightening round. For every minute it takes you I’m going to spoil something from The Last Airbender.”

“Aw, come on!”

Skye left him to it. She went down to the basement, always her last stop before packing up for the night. She’d long stopped expecting the Monolith to give her anything. Her colleagues wondered if it was really worth keeping around. Skye was beginning to wonder that herself. But she did keep it, just in case. Every night she went downstairs to check on it, to see if anything had changed, knowing nothing had. Tonight was no different.

She didn’t stay down here too long anymore. She used to stare at the thing for ages, sometimes even talked to it. Now she just checked in. It stared back at her blankly, perfectly still.

She locked up and went home for the night.

 

Jemma washed up on the floor of a dark, damp room rather suddenly, unaware of what had just happened. Seemed as though one minute she was going about her normal business, and the next she’d been washed away somewhere. She couldn’t see where she was. She couldn’t move; she was paralysed, from fear of from that thing, she wasn’t sure. She hoped she was back to where she had been, though now she thought about it, she couldn’t remember where that was. Home, she wanted to say, whatever that meant. SHIELD. Friends. It was coming back to her. It felt like ages for some reason.

She grappled for knowledge, memories. What had happened to her? There was a beach. Lots of sand and lots of water. Lots of sun and lots of stars. Endless sky. Endless space. And no people. Just her and a giant rock. She could see it clearly, though it was more a feeling than a memory. A very scary feeling, humming in her and making her heart pound and her hands tremble. It was prehistoric. She felt like she’d seen all of time and she wasn’t sure if she was imagining it or not. It was the most alone she’d ever felt. She had changed. There was something very different about her; something very wrong.

 

Skye couldn’t shake the feeling that something was amiss when she went into work the next morning. It wasn’t an unusual feeling, especially now that she was the director. Sometimes it was nothing, sometimes it was something. She toured the building, checking on her office, the equipment, the agents. Everything was fine.

Something in her was avoiding the basement. The Monolith hadn’t been the cause of her anxiety in a long time; it was mostly a source of disappointment. But this morning it sat in the back of her mind like a ghost, like she was afraid she was being followed but didn’t want to turn around and find out.

Eventually she finished her rounds; all that was left was the basement. She flicked on the light and stopped dead. Jemma was lying face down on the floor.

Skye ran over knelt next to her, and then halted, wondering what to do. She was scared what she would find when she turned her over. Skye rested a hand on Jemma’s back and was relieved and the rise and fall of her breath. Gently, Skye rolled Jemma onto her back. She looked exactly the same as she had fifteen years ago. Same clothes, same hair, same face. Skye was enormously happy and shocked and scared, she didn’t know what to do. She wanted to cry and laugh at the same time, but she stayed quiet because while part of her wanted to pick Jemma up and squeeze her, another part of her wanted to let her keep sleeping.

Jemma frowned lightly and blinked. She stared up at Skye for a few long seconds.

“Skye?”

Skye smiled, tears prickling at her eyes. “Hey Jemma.”

“What happened?” Jemma’s voice was soft, quiet, almost distant.

“We don’t know. Last anyone saw you you were examining this thing.”

Jemma nodded, like she was recalling a small detail. “It swallowed me. How long was I gone?”

“Fifteen years.”

“Oh.”

Jemma sat up and looked around. “I don’t recognize this room.”

“It’s a different base. Jemma, where did you go?”

Jemma looked at her, still with that dazed, far away expression. “I don’t know.”

“Well, I guess we better get Bobbi to take a look at you.”

 

Jemma remained withdrawn and almost silent throughout the examination. Skye stood back and watched, concerned. She remembered when Jemma came back from Hydra; she had become quieter, tired, aged. This was different. Now she just sat there, staring, looking- Skye wanted to say glum, but that wasn’t right. She was empty.

Skye wondered if that’s what she’d look like if the Monolith got her. It was supposed to destroy inhumans, right? Did that mean kill them or take their powers away? Skye remembered coming out of the cocoon feeling full of panic and nervous energy. Since learning about her powers, the constant buzz started to feel familiar, comforting, like a secret weapon that had always been a part of her. She couldn’t imagine it being taken away. What did the Monolith take from Jemma?

“It doesn’t seem to have taken anything,” Bobbi said. “Or given you anything. It doesn’t seem to have changed you at all. How much time has passed for you?”

Jemma shrugged. “A few minutes. A billion years. I honestly can’t tell.”

“How are you feeling?”

Jemma shrugged again and didn’t answer. Bobbi rubbed her back comfortingly.

 

Ace was quiet on the drive to the workshop. Skye figured he had questions and didn’t want to ask Skye as though Jemma wasn’t right there, but wasn’t sure if he should ask Jemma. Skye wondered how much he remembered about her. As soon as they got to the workshop though, and Harley turned out to be there, Ace was distracted with other things.

Fitz, after getting over the initial shock and the hugs had been passed around, had taken Jemma somewhere private where they could catch up while Mack showed Skye her new car.

“Hello Marissa,” Skye cooed, running her hand along the metal. “How’s my baby girl?”

“And I thought Coulson was weird about cars,” Mack said.

“When you have one of your own you’ll understand."

"He's pretty much adopted Lola," Harley said when he and Ace reappeared. "You should hear how he talks to her. Who's the girl?"

"Old friend."

Mack leaned forward and lowered his voice in that concerned way he had. "She seems kind of out of it. You get anything out of her?"

"Well, she did just wake up fifteen years into the future. Not sure she's in much of a giving mood."

"Yeah, but the Simmons I remember would be in full-on science mode, asking a gazillion questions a minute."

"Yeah, she hasn't scienced at all yet. I don't know what happened to her."

They looked over to where Jemma and Fitz had left. Skye hoped Fitz could get her to open up.

It was strange having Jemma back after all this time. They'd spent years looking for her with no results, and eventually they just got used to her being lost. They'd never really mourned her properly. She was always in the back of their minds- _she'll turn up eventually._ They'd slowly gone back to their lives and carried on as usual. Skye felt bad about that, but hey, Jemma did turn up, just like they assumed she would.

“Well, now that she’s back you can get rid of that thing,” Mack said.

“I second that,” said Ace.

“I guess so. Where else am I going to put it, though? If I could I’d destroy it completely but I don’t know how to do that.”

“Yeah, I guess dumping things in the ocean is out of the question after what happened last time. Have you _tried_ destroying it? Maybe work some of that quake magic? I mean, if the Kree built it, the Kree should be able to undo it, right?”

“Right, well, I don’t think I’m technically Kree and I don’t know how to get a hold of someone who is. But yeah, now that we have Jemma back, it’s worth a shot.”

 

Jemma and Fitz sat on the bench outside, overlooking the parking lot. His arm rested along the length of the backrest, and she leaned her head on his shoulder.

“Sorry I missed dinner.”

Fitz laughed. “It’s okay.”

She felt calmer than she did last night, but now she didn’t feel much of anything. Vaguely unsettled, but mostly she was just rolling with it. Skye was the director of SHIELD now; Fitz had moved on with Mack and more or less taken over Stark Industries; Ace Peterson was all grown up; Audrey Nathan had come down with a case of superpowers, conveniently opening a window for Coulson to move in; her parents had divorced. She ought to want to see them, but she didn’t. She should feel something other than acceptance about all these sudden changes- or changes that should feel sudden but just made sense.

“What are you going to do?” Fitz asked.

“I don’t want to do anything,” she sighed. “But I think I should stay with SHIELD for a little while, until we figure out what’s wrong.”

“I thought you said Bobbi cleared you.”

“She did. I didn’t find anything either. But I know something’s wrong. I just don’t know what.”

 

Ace went back to base to train with Akela upon Skye’s insistence; partly because he tended to skip training when he thought he could get away with, and partly because Skye wanted Jemma to herself between reunions.

Coulson seemed to finally be settling into retirement; he poured everyone orange juice which he’d made himself and fed everyone sandwiches with tomatoes that he’d grown in the garden. Skye called on him more often than he called on her these days, which was nice. Jemma seemed to find it funny; it was a relief to see a smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

“Jemma, I’m sorry,” Coulson said when the initial excitement died down. “A lot of things went wrong on my watch. Sometimes I wonder how many people I could have saved by declining the position as director. I’m glad to see we didn’t really lose you.”

“There’s no point thinking like that,” said Jemma.

“See?” said Audrey, elbowing him. “I tell him that all the time.”

“So do I,” said Skye.

“What happened to me wasn’t anyone’s fault,” Jemma continued. “If it wasn’t me, it would have been someone else, no matter what you might have done. It has a mind of its own.”

Skye frowned. “Does it really, or are you just being ominous?”

“No, it really does. I can’t explain how I know; I just do.”

 

“Feeling any better?” Phil asked, perching on the side of the bed.

Audrey shrugged.

Phil rubbed her back. “When did the sick feeling start?”

“When I touched Jemma’s hand.”

Phil raised his eyebrows. “You were trying to see if she’d been affected, weren’t you?” All it took was one touch from Audrey and see could see the entire inner layout of a person. If Jemma had been changed by the Monolith in some way, Audrey would know. “You’re supposed to ask before you do that.”

“I wasn’t trying to. I really was just trying to comfort her.”

“So, was she altered?”

“I don’t know. I couldn’t see anything. I touched her hand and then something in me shorted out and I got dizzy.”

Phil frowned. “Hm. Can you see me?”

Audrey sat up and put her hand on his arm, trying to reach in and getting nothing. “No. Something’s wrong.”

“Maybe yours weren’t permanent.”

“Can they really just disappear like that?”

“I don’t know. Maybe something did happen to Jemma.”

“You think she took my powers?”

“I don’t know. We’ll look into it.”

 

“I don’t suppose you kept any of my clothes?” Jemma asked in the car. “Because I don’t want to wear this forever.”

“Good point. Okay, I know what our next stop will be.”

Fury had also more or less settled into retirement, happy to live vicariously through Hill when she had lunch with him on Sundays. These days he consulted the Avengers and assisted Janet by modeling her designs for her. In private. Skye had to wonder how much that modeling actually had to do with business.

Pepper greeted them noncommittally from the counter where she was sorting through the accounts. Skye took Jemma to the back where Janet pinning fabric around a mannequin and Fury was trying to patch a whole in his jacket.

“Hello darling,” Janet said. She looked at Jemma. “Hello darling’s friend.”

Fury looked up. “Simmons?”

“Sir.”

“Yeah, look who we found,” Skye said.

“Well… good to have you back.” There didn’t seem to be much else to say.

“Thank you, sir.”

“Jan, Jemma needs some new clothes. She’s wearing everything she has right now. Do you have anything lying around?”

Janet smiled excitedly. She always had something lying around. Skye was like her favorite doll. Janet loved designing things for her, and Skye loved getting free stuff. There was probably something nice that Jemma could have.

“Of course! Come on.” Janet took Jemma’s hand and led her towards the changing rooms. “Come pick out something you like.”

“I’m not sure she’ll find anything,” Skye muttered to Fury. “Jemma prefers things on the plain side. So what have you two been up to?”

“Eh, you know. Played with some aliens, cameoed at Avengers Tower, got married.”

“What? When did you get married?”

“Yesterday.”

“Well congratulations and thanks for inviting me.”

“If it makes you feel better, you’re the first to know and you’re invited to the party that she will probably make me throw for her.” He set his sewing aside and gestured at the stool. “How are you? SHIELD still intact?”

“Yep,” said Skye, sitting down. “I have now lasted longer than Coulson by a month.”

“Congratulations. Don’t go longer than me, okay? I want the record for longest directorship. You can be the most effective.”

“I’m good with that. I did successfully integrate humans and inhumans, after all. Kinda.”

“Thanks to your stint as an Avenger,” Fury argued. “I think I get some credit for that.”

“All you did was recruit me. I did all the work.”

“Fair enough.”

Janet led Jemma back into the room. Jemma looked fresher and slightly bashful about her new outfit. Janet has always been good about sensibility but Jemma’s new clothes were definitely flashier than what she was useful. She seemed pleased though.

“There. Doesn’t she look nice? Come back next week. I’ll have new stuff for both of you.”

 

Skye shifted, trying to find a comfortable position to lie in and talk on the phone. “It just feels like a bad idea.” She talked quietly. Jemma was asleep on the living room couch.

“It swallowed Simmons,” May said. “We’re lucky it didn’t swallow anyone else. Do you really want to wait around for it to happen again?”

“Of course not. Believe me, I want to get rid of this thing as bad as anyone. There’s just something in me that feels like we shouldn’t.”

May’s voice softened. “Well, you held onto it all this time hoping it would give her back. Maybe that’s what you’re feeling.”

“But she’s back now. Why would I still want to hang onto it?”

“You tell me.”

Skye couldn’t; that was the problem. She had no idea what was keeping her from destroying the Monolith. When they’d got back to base she’d gone downstairs and stared at the thing for an hour. She’d been having a silent argument with it.

_You’ve gotta go._

_I shan’t._

_You’re dangerous and I must kill you._

_You will do no such thing._

Eventually Jemma had found her glaring at it.

“It pains me to admit it,” she’d said. “But I think you should hold onto it just a little bit longer too.”

“Maybe it wants you to keep it around,” May said. “And maybe that’s a sign that you shouldn’t.”

“Jemma said something about it having a mind of its own, but she doesn’t want to get rid of it either.”

“Well, you’ll have to figure something out.”

Skye sighed. She wanted May’s advice and May thought she should get rid of the Monolith. It was what Skye wanted to do and what everyone had been telling her to do. She’d hoped hearing it from May would make her more inclined, but it didn’t.

“Think you can convince Andrew to make a house call? Jemma should probably talk to a professional.”

“Are you saying that because you feel like you have to?”

“Yes.”

“He’ll come out if you ask.”

 

Akela’s trainees were gathered excitedly around the boxing ring, watching Romanov and May demonstrate how to kick ass.

“You got May too?”

“Didn’t think you’d mind,” Akela said, smirking like she wasn’t too concerned.

“No but I doubt May came all this way just to spar.”

“Think you’re in trouble?”

“Maybe. Tell her I’m downstairs. I think I know what this is about.”

 

There was a reason the Monolith stayed locked in a case. Jemma was living proof that it should stay locked in the case. It wasn’t daring that made her unlock it and stick her hand in. Curiosity? Maybe. She was drawn to it in a way. Maybe this was some form of Stockholm syndrome.

She touched her fingertips to the rock and it engulfed her hand, molding around it and massaging it gently. She thought it would feel warm or windy. She thought it would be like sticking her hand either outside or into a bowl of pudding. But it didn’t. It vibrated. She could feel every molecule of her hand, like a billion spiders crawling all over. It tickled.

She heard faint _whoosh_ sounds, like the ocean. She imagined it was breathing.

“Jemma!”

She turned around.

Skye hurried towards her and yanked her arm away, shutting the case and locking it. May, and Romanov, and Bobbi were right behind her.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t help myself.”

“Go upstairs. It makes me nervous when you’re around this thing.”

“Actually, it might be helpful if she stayed,” Bobbi said. “Skye, I’ve examined this thing a thousand times. I think everyone who’s worked here since Coulson brought it in has had a crack at it. We don’t know anything. But now that Jemma’s had actual contact with it, maybe she can give us some insight. At the very least, it might be a good idea if she supervised while you played with it.”

Skye sighed. “Alright fine. Any ideas?”

“I don’t know how to destroy it, but I don’t think you’ll be able to,” Jemma said.

“Why not?”

Jemma gestured helplessly in frustration. “I really can’t explain any of this. It comes in vibes, not quantifiable facts. All I know is that you can’t destroy it and it should stay here for the time being.”

“Why does it need to stay here?”

“I don’t know. It has a purpose that it hasn’t met yet.”

“I’m not sure you want to wait around for it to meet its purpose,” said May.

“Neither do I,” said Jemma. “Well, part of me does and part of me doesn’t. Thing is, I don’t think you’ll keep anyone safe simply by moving it somewhere else.”

Romanov moved closer, examining it critically. “So I take it you don’t want me to move it to Avengers Tower?”

“I guess not.”

“What were you going to do? Some earthbending trick, make it crumble?”

Skye shrugged. “Guess so.”

“I don’t think that would have worked,” said Jemma. “In fact, you’re probably lucky you didn’t try.”

 

Audrey and Phil waited patiently on the examination table while Bobbi frowned at the readings.

“Well, you’re perfectly healthy. There’s no sign of altercations, but yeah, your powers are clean gone.” She turned to Jemma. “And nothing’s different about you since the last time I checked. If you have powers or changed in any way, it’s hiding itself very well.”

“You don’t have any idea what could have happened?”

“I’m sorry. From these results you look like you never had powers.”

“But we know that’s not true,” said Coulson. “How could they have just disappeared like that?”

Bobbi sighed and shrugged apologetically. “I don’t know. Audrey, you got it from the tablets, didn’t you? We know they affect people differently than the crystals. I’ll take another look, see if I missed something. Jemma, did you feel anything when Audrey touched you? She said she felt dizzy.”

“I felt something. Like static shock.”

Skye looked around the room. Everyone was thinking it but no one wanted to say it out loud. It couldn’t be a coincidence that Audrey and Jemma could be so affected by a graze of the hand and suddenly Audrey’s powers were gone. But no one wanted to revisit that blame game. Skye certainly didn’t. Still, the way it looked right now, Jemma should be in quarantine. Skye was trying to figure out how to bring it up gently when Jemma suggested it herself.

“I should have been in as soon as you found me.”

“You’d been gone for years. I wasn’t going to lock you away.”

“Still, I’d feel better. You have a whole team of inhumans working here. I don’t want to cause any more trouble.”

 

Skye found Lincoln in the break room with one of those handheld game boys that looked older than she was. She could see blue flashes around the back.

“Working hard or hardly working?”

Lincoln grinned sheepishly. “I’m on break. So’s the team. I found this thing in an old shoebox of childhood memories that I forgot I had. I’m hoping it’s not too dead.”

“You can get a car running but you can’t charge a video game?”

“I’m working on it.”

Lincoln stuck his tongue out as he concentrated- Skye always thought that was adorable and had to struggle not to laugh at him.

Eventually the game blinked to life.

“Hey, you did it!”

Lincoln frowned and rubbed his forehead.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, just got really dizzy for a second.”

Skye’s stomach fell. On the one hand, maybe this meant Jemma wasn’t responsible. On the other hand, Lincoln was one of the first in inhumans Skye had ever met. They’d been partners for such a long time. She hated to think of him being vulnerable this way.

“Come on. Let’s go see Bobbi.”

 

Skye wished she had thought it through before sending Jemma into quarantine. At this point it didn’t matter where Jemma was; she’d got static shock at the same time Lincoln got dizzy. But Bobbi insisted that Jemma stay where she could keep an eye on her, in case there were new developments.

Skye decided to spend the night at the base in case Jemma wanted company that wasn’t medical. It was after midnight when Skye visited the lab. Bobbi was napping on the couch. Jemma was still in quarantine, lying on the bed with her hands folded under her head.

Skye unlocked the little room and nudged Jemma over so that she could lie down.

“You shouldn’t be in here, Skye,” Jemma admonished.

“Oh please, like it matters. I think as long as I don’t use my powers we’ll be fine.”

Jemma settle back down. “You’re probably right, but we don’t know that for sure. Besides, are you really going to avoid using you’re powers forever?”

Skye would certainly try if that’s what it took. She sighed. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

She could feel Jemma tightening in on herself to avoid touching her. Skye wrapped an arm around Jemma’s shoulders and coaxed her head onto Skye’s chest. “I’m not scared of you. You don’t have to treat me like a doll.”

“You’ve probably had enough of that for a lifetime,” Jemma agreed.

That was true, though Skye couldn’t help feeling amused, looking back on the situation. Not the _whole_ situation. She couldn’t remember it without feeling the sting of losing Trip, but it had taken a long time for everyone to stop running around like chickens without their heads. What had nearly caused SHIELD to fall all over again was now normal life. Of course, that was only a couple days ago for Jemma, but even she didn’t seem bothered by it anymore.

“I’m not going to treat you like a doll either. I remember how annoying it was, everyone being scared of me- sorry, _concerned_ for me; too concerned for me to hold my hand. That was all I needed; for everyone to just shut up and hold my hand. Tell me what you need and I’ll do it.”

“You should be scared of me. I feel like I’m making people sick.”

“You can’t help it.”

“I’m not so sure about that.”

Skye tried to look at Jemma’s face but couldn’t reach. She sounded sad, maybe a little scared.

“Tell me what you know.”

“I’m connected to the Monolith. That’s all I can tell you. I don’t know what that means for you or me, other than if you lose your powers, I’m the one responsible.”

“How?”

“I don’t know. It’s like, I can feel them working, like something hovering around me, and I accidentally inhale it. But I can’t feel it in me. I don’t know how to reach it and give it back. I think it’s because I’m not supposed to want to, so I don’t really want to.”

Skye realized she was drawing circles on Jemma’s arm absently, but Jemma didn’t seem to mind so she kept doing it. “Sounds like you and the Monolith are having an inner argument.”

“Could be.”

Skye eased Jemma off of her and rolled onto her side so she could talk to her face to face.

“I’m not mad at you.”

Jemma smiled. “But you still have your powers.”

“I don’t believe you’re responsible for this. I think something’s making you do it.”

“I don’t know. I was the perfect candidate for eliminating superpowers, remember?”

Skye winced but kept going. “You thought I was sick. You saw Hydra planning to use the diviner for mass genocide, and then it killed Trip, transformed Raina beyond recognizability, and all I could do to keep from shattering any more windows was shatter my own tendons. You were trying to help.”

“That’s the story you’re going with.”

“That’s the story I’m going with.”

Skye leaned in to kiss her but was startled by a knock at the window. She sat up and saw Bobbi beckoning at her.

“We have a situation.”

 

The situation turned out to be an inhuman bank robber. Skye dealt with him quickly (heh, amateur) but was confused when he wobbled in place for a moment and fell to his knees.

“Oh, come on, I didn’t hit you that hard-“ And then Skye felt it too. The dizzy spell hit her all the harder for knowing what it meant.

When she recovered she went and grabbed the robber’s arm. “Come with me.”

 

Jemma was already downstairs when Skye got back to base. She’d unlocked the case again and was staring at the Monolith. She turned around when Skye entered.

“I took yours, didn’t I?”

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t think I can help you unless I’m inside the Monolith.”

Skye could feel her heart pounding. She wasn’t surprised to hear that. It was one of those things that she and Jemma just had a feeling about but couldn’t voice.

“Will you come back out?”

“It will only leave you alone if I’m inside. I can control it.”

Skye stepped forward and kissed her. She wanted to keep her here a little longer, but Jemma didn’t waste any time. She stepped backwards and up into the case. The Monolith molded around her easily and that was that.

Skye felt her breath come back with a sudden hit. Experimentally she pushed at the air. The chair fell over.

She got Lincoln on the phone. “Try your powers again. Are they working? Good.”

 

Skye made her rounds through the building, making sure everyone was staying on task. It wasn’t necessary, but being director left her with little to do sometimes.

The basement was her last stop. She unlocked the Monolith and put her hand to it. It didn’t respond.

She felt Akela move in behind her and kiss the back of her neck.

“I think she’s still in there,” she said.

Skye snorted. “That’s not exactly comforting.”

“I mean as a sort of consciousness, looking out for you.”

Skye turned in Akela’s arms. “You don’t mind keeping it around?”

“I trust her not to hurt anyone.”

Skye kissed her. “Thank you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Kind of rushed because I wanted to get it posted before I left for my trip.


End file.
